Darius Rucker On Touring With Lady Antebellum

Currently halfway through his tour with Lady Antebellum
and Thompson Square, Darius Rucker filled CBS Local in on what it’s like
opening for Lady A and some of his favorite songs to play during his
set.

(Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Capitol Records)

“It’s so much fun for me being out with Lady Antebellum. They’re huge
and doing so well. We’re playing big places, selling them out and
having a good time,” he said.
Joking that he’s almost 20 years older than Lady Antebellum, he said
watching them each night strikes up memories of his early career.

“Sitting there watching them, they’re kids. Just watching them go
through something I’ve been through, watching them enjoy it. It’s fun
for me. I love going out there playing and playing in front of their
audience has been a lot of fun.”

Each night Darius’ set spans his catalog of country songs, Hootie
& the Blowfish hits and a few covers. Having first released “Let Her
Cry” in 1994, he admitted that it still tops his set list every night.

“My favorite song to play will always be ‘Let Her Cry.’ Always,” he
said. “I remember writing that song and I remember the whole
circumstance of that day and that song will always be special to me.”

One cover song in particular he’s surprised he never played with Hootie & the Blowfish is Prince’s “Purple Rain.”

“‘Purple Rain’ is one of my favorite cover songs to play. I still
can’t believe Hootie never played that. It took me becoming a country
band to play,” he admitted. “It’s one of those songs that I don’t think I
can stop playing it. I didn’t play it at one of my shows and on the
Internet the next day everybody was mad because I didn’t play ‘Purple
Rain.’ If I have to play that song the rest of my life, I’m cool with
that.”

While what’s going on through his head during his performance is
different every night, Darius filled us in on a few of his thoughts each
night.

“Most nights I’m thinking, ‘Are they having fun?’ That’s really all
that matters to me, if the crowd is having fun,” he said. “I know we’re
having fun because I know everyone I play with, we’re just so happy that
we’re playing music for a living that we’re going to go out there and
have fun. My worry is, ‘Is the audience having fun?’”